WILMINGTON, N.C. – East Carolina capped an unbeaten weekend and clinched the Hampton Inn and Suites Seahawk Classic title with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-19) victory over Alabama State inside Trask Coliseum.  

Senior right side Fran McBride was named the tournament MVP while sophomore middle blocker Carlia Northcross and freshman middle blocker Farah Farooq were also tabbed to the All-Tournament Team. 

The Pirates (7-2) shook off a tough first set and cruised from there, finishing with a .302 hitting percentage and limiting the Lady Hornets (1-9) to .128 efficiency. ECU also held the upper hand in kills (49-41), digs (46-45) and total blocks (14.0-3.0). East Carolina really turned it around in the second set, recording 15 kills on 25 attempts with only two errors for a stout .520 hitting mark.  

Sophomore outside hitter Angeles Alderete collected her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs to go along with a nine-kill, six-block performance out of McBride. Senior setter Julianna Askew also posted a double-double of 20 assists and 10 digs while reigning American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week Northcross chipped in with another nine blocks. 

Set One: With the score knotted at 14 in the opener, Alabama State notched four of the next five points to take an 18-15 advantage. East Carolina was unable to recover as it dropped the set by eight.  

Set Two: The Pirates flipped the script in the second frame, racing out to a sizable 9-3 lead after three straight kills by Northcross. It was all ECU from there as the upper hand grew all the way to 12 before McBride terminated the set with a kill. 

Set Three: The Lady Hornets jumped out to a 7-4 lead, but a 6-1 run by the Pirates put the Purple and Gold in front by two. East Carolina began to pull away, building a 21-14 edge following a block by McBride and Northcross. That was all ECU needed to clinch the stanza and a 2-1 lead in the match. 

Set Four: The Pirates erased another early Lady Hornet cushion, turning a 6-4 deficit into a 12-7 advantage as Farooq and Aulie Huff teamed up for a block to cap the spurt. Alabama State never threatened again as McBride and Farooq ended the contest in style with a stuff block.  

Up Next: East Carolina travels to Blacksburg, Va., next weekend for the Virginia Tech Classic. The Pirates face off with Duquesne Friday at 3 p.m. before taking on either Queens University or the host Hokies the next day.